Chandler becomes upset after learning that Monica only came to his room in London looking for Joey on the first night they were together. Joey is ordained as a minister through the Internet so that he can officiate the wedding. Phoebe becomes upset after taking headache medicine. Ross becomes upset after a baby-sitting Rachel teaches Ben how to play pranks.

Ken Tucker

At its best, Friends operates like a first-rate Broadway farce, complete with slamming doors, twisty plots, and intricately strung together jokes. And even when it's not at its best, the crack acting and piquant punchlines give Friends a momentum and charm that win you over even if you're not laughing.

Howard Rosenberg

The sexy, urbane Friends -- from Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright, the people responsible for the HBO super-comedy "Dream On" -- starts fairly strongly tonight, improves next Thursday and in week three gets on a grand, hilarious, rip-roaring roll. It's the perfect series to bridge "Mad About You" and "Seinfeld." [22 Sept 1994, p.F1]

Ed Bark

None of the six main actors is a stand-up comic, but they're appealing nonetheless...If the scripts get a little sharper, Friends may attract enough of the right demographics to become a hit. [22 Sept 1994]

Robert Bianco

In short, they do what friends do, only they do more of it more often. Too often, actually. That constant comic bantering grows a little tired, just as it would if it ever actually happened in real life. [22 Sept 1994, p.C1]

Tony Scott

Concept is OK, but the humor's less sophisticated than expected from the exec producers of HBO's comedy series "Dream On," and the dialogue is not exactly snappy. Ross: "I honestly don't know if I'm hungry or horny!" Chandler: "Stay out of my freezer."

Hal Boedeker

Barry Garron

So it's come to this - all talk and no action... Some of the lines are funny and several of the stars, particularly Aniston and David Schwimmer, who plays Ross, are appealing. But something is missing here and that something is a story. Where's the beef?[22 Sept 1994, p.F1]

Ann Hodges

Gail Pennington

All the characters lie on the couch a lot. While it's noted that they do have jobs, they seem to spend most of their time eating Oreos and watching TV. (Hey, that's my life. . . .) And they talk, but most of what they have to say isn't very funny. [22 Sept 1994, p.6G]

Richard Zoglin

A phony-to-the-core twentysomething sitcom. ... This earnestly flaky show from the creators of Dream On runs the gamut from '30s romantic farce to Seinfeldian trivia... without being believable for a moment.

Tom Shales

Friends comes across like a 30-minute commercial for Dockers or Ikea or light beer, except it's smuttier. One character says he dreamed he had a telephone for a penis and when it rang, "it turns out it's my mother." And this is in the first five minutes...Another ghastly creation from professional panderers Marta Kauffman and David Crane, the witless duo who do "Dream On" for HBO, Friends is more a scripted talk show than a sitcom. You keep waiting for Sally Jessy or some other cluck to interrupt the jabbering. The show is so bad that Sally Jessy would actually come as a relief. [22 Sept 1994, p.D1]